A woven part having hook-shaped engaging elements on a surface and a woven part having loop-shaped engaging elements have widely been used as a typical hook-and-loop fastener. By placing either of the woven part on another woven part with the surfaces provided with the engaging elements facing each other, the hook-shaped engaging elements engage with the loop-shaped engaging elements, whereby the two woven parts are combined as a single part.
To cover a surface of a bar-shaped object or a linear object with a hook-and-loop fastener, a method has been known such as: wrapping the bar-shaped object or the linear object with the hook-and-loop fastener and then fixing the hook-and-loop fastener using an adhesive, a glue, or the like to the surface of the bar-shaped object or the liner object; or sewing the hook-and-loop fastener into a hollow shape with the engaging elements on an external surface so that the bar-shaped object or the linear object is inserted in the hollow.
In such methods, however, a step of sewing the hook-and-loop fastener, a step of bonding the hook-and-loop fastener using an adhesive or a glue, a step of wrapping the bar-shaped object or the like with the hook-and-loop fastener, and the like are necessary, which means additional steps and work are necessary.
Such methods are not suitable for a brush composed of a bar-shaped object and a hook-and-loop fastener that covers a surface of the bar-shaped object, in which the brush is dipped in a liquid to put and keep an application liquid on engaging elements provided on the hook-and-loop fastener. It is because, in such a use, components in an adhesive or a glue might permeate into the application liquid.
Furthermore, when a textile is attached to the back surface of the hook-and-loop fastener by sewing or using an adhesive to be shaped like a hollow, the hollow part easily comes off the hook-and-loop fastener. It needs an extra work to firmly bond the textile by sewing or using an adhesive so as not to come off, and such firm bonding greatly deteriorates flexibility of the hook-and-loop fastener.
In a typical method of detachably attaching a component such as an electronic part to a surface of an object, a hook-and-loop fastener is attached to the surface of the component using an adhesive or a glue and another hook-and-loop fastener is attached to the surface of the object to engage the two hook-and-loop fasteners. This method, however, is not applicable if the hook-and-loop fastener cannot be attached to the surface of the component or if attaching of the hook-and-loop fastener deteriorates the performance or quality of the component. An alternative method for such a case is to insert the component in a hollow of the hook-and-loop fastener and engage the hook-and-loop fastener with another hook-and-loop fastener attached to the object. This method includes preparation of a hollow part that accommodates the component and attaching of a hook-and-loop fastener to the hollow part by sewing or using an adhesive, which requires additional work.
The inventors have studied a technique that does not require such additional work and solves the problem of a hollow woven part coming off the back surface. The inventors have found out that the aforementioned problem of the prior art can be solved by forming a hollow woven part integrated with a hook-and-loop fastener during manufacturing of the hook-and-loop fastener.
A hook-and-loop fastener having a hollow woven part has been known (see Patent Literature 1). The Patent Literature discloses that the shape of a hook-and-loop fastener can be fixed by inserting hard core members in thin hollow woven parts provided on both rims of the hook-and-loop fastener to extend in the longitudinal direction of the hook-and-loop fastener. The rims are, namely, thin edge portions where no engaging element is provided.
Although the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 allows insertion of a thin core member, there is a limit in the size of a component that can be inserted in a hollow woven part formed in the thin rim, which is as wide as a few millimeters, of the hook-and-loop fastener. A thick bar-shaped object or a wide component cannot be inserted in the hollow woven part. Moreover, the technique disclosed in the Patent Literature does not have engaging elements provided on the hollow woven part, so that the hollow woven part cannot be fixed directly to the hook-and-loop fastener. Therefore, the hollow woven part rises above the attaching surface, which discourages stable attachment of the hook-and-loop fastener. This limits variation of the applicable shape.
An object of the present invention is to provide a hook-and-loop fastener that can be manufactured with a hollow woven part having an any arbitrary width, not limited to a narrow width as in Patent Literature 1, and with engaging elements provided also on a surface of the hollow woven part. Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hook-and-loop fastener having a hollow woven part that does not come off a back surface of the hook-and-loop fastener.